What's Fiberton Acres Up to in 2020?

First and foremost, Happy New Year everyone!  I am excited for 2020...which has already been quite exciting!

The new year finds me in Colorado for a couple months or so for shearing bison hides.  Bison fiber has unique qualities and is crazy warm (as it is their winter coat that we shear) and makes for some awesome gloves, hats and socks.  And it is a great way for me to become more adept at shearing!

Which brings me to....

What's Fiberton Acres Up to in 2020?

I don't like making resolutions.  But I do like making goals.  These are my goals for 2020!

1) Shearing, baby!

• The next 5-6 months are going to be filled with shearing!  I am shearing bison hides for the next couple months, and then on to assisting Shorn Shearing Service in alpaca shearing.  I help hold the animal while it is shorn, and this year my goal is to get better at shearing myself.  I am feeling more confident all the time (thanks to great training from Shorn) and hope to be semi-fluent in alpaca shearing by the end of the shearing season!

2) Do a freakin' pull-up and train for a run...

• Shearing has gotten me into the best shape of my life.  With that, my goal is to be able to do a pull-up!  I am hitting the gym fairly frequently and hope to hit the one pull-up mark by mid-year! I've also been thinking that learning to rock climb may help me reach that goal, too...  It has also been too long since I have trained for a decent length run.  So that is gonna happen this year, too!

3) More travel!

• This year I have a goal to visit a new country.  I plan on taking the ol' van to new places, checking out cool new places with shearing, and checking out a new country.  I have been lucky to go to Australia...the next one I really want to visit is a South American country, but I also have never been to Canada, so I have a good back up plan. 

4) But also more gardening...

• I realize though that I also need something that grounds me, and putting my hands in the dirt and getting to grow something is a big deal for me.  So this year I will be begging friends to let me come play in their yards in return for some veggies. :)

5) Revamp the Etsy Shop...

• And the Etsy Shop will be undergoing a bit of a ravamp!  It will focus on products and tools for yarn crafters, including organizing solutions, knitting needles and crochet hooks, drop spindles, yarn bowls, kits, new yarn packs and more!  These changes will happen over the next few months, and I will make sure to let you know as they happen.  I will still do custom handmade knit and crochet items but they will be by custom order only.  Just contact me through the Etsy Shop with your ideas!

What are your goals in 2020?  I love sharing my goals, as it makes me feel more accountable.  I would love to hear what you will be working toward in 2020!

I leave you with this.  I can't find who to give credit to for this awesome quote/image.  But it is pretty much my fav.

- Ash

Hitting the Road... Part 3 in the New Adventures for Fiberton Saga!

After I returned from Australia, I took two weeks to hang out with my parents and friends in my little town of San Miguel, CA. At that point, I had already packed everything up for the most part, so I worked on deciding next steps in my crazy little adventure.

December gardening with friends in Cali!

Winter on the Road...


I decided I'd first make my way down to visit family for the holidays in Prescott and Prescott Valley, AZ where I was born and raised. This was a perfect maiden voyage, as I followed my parents from San Miguel to there.  We were able to address bugs with the van as a small group, as life on my own for the first time was quite intimidating.  I didn't really want to let on...but being a single lady on the road by myself was a big change from my 17 years of marriage in a house or RV.  I knew I could do it, and was excited for it, but I welcomed not doing the first leg of my new life on the road alone.

Jazz Hands! (Thanks, Dad!)

The van did well overall, and I even spent a few nights sleeping in the cold AZ nights in the van to see how it might be. At that point it was not insulated, and, while I found out that I could do it if I had to, the cold outside and the heat from my body created condensation on the metal that was pretty significant.  That would have to be addressed for future comfort for sure.

Following mom and dad to SLC

After a great week or so in AZ, my parents followed me as far as Salt Lake City.  There we parted ways after (another) tearful goodbye and I decided to head to Colorado for a bit.  I had heard that there may be some shearing work over that way, and I wanted to check it out.

Wyoming in late Dec.

It worked out that I could help out with some bison shearing while I was there, which was a total trip.  During my time in Colorado, I generally stayed in AirBnB's rather than the van.  I did stay in the van one night and woke to this...

Meh...what's a little snow and negative degree weather...?

Needless to say, without the van being converted yet, it was not super nice to stay in it in the winter months.

Try and make the best of it! 

Springtime Travels...

After Colorado, I got the super cool chance to go on the road with Shorn Shearing again, this time getting to go first to the Southern Loop (FL, GA and AL).  I've always wanted to go to Savannah, not only did I get that opportunity, I got to do it during a tornado warning.  I felt like this was so much more authentic!  As Audrey Hepburn says in Sabrina (my fav!), "You get yourself, not a drizzle, but some honest-to-goodness rain..."  That's what Savannah gave me!  It did not disappoint me one bit.

\

I <3 Savannah!

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is one of my very fav books and set in Savannah!

During shearing I got to see a lot of the country that I had not seen... mountains and valleys, rock formations and rivers, animals and much, much more.  It just reinforced my love for the road and getting to travel and experience as much as I can.  Van life was looking more and more up my alley.

I got to practice some llama shearing at Ranch of the Oaks in AZ

Prescott, AZ

Navajo Monument in AZ

Moab, UT area

Pretty river in Utah.

So now what....?

Upon my return to Montana in early June (where I had left my van to go on my shearing adventures) I jumped straight into truly converting the van. And that, folks, is where I pick up next post!

Ash

PS - In future posts I will cover some of the places I camped that were super cool, like the Navajo National Monument! Stay tuned!

New adventures for Fiberton Acres...Part Uno

Ummm....first...sorry.  I know it has been way way too long since I last wrote.  Life has a way of
taking some turns you don't expect, and let's be honest, I have yet to meet someone who really has their shit together enough to know how to deal with those changes.

But life is an adventure (and believe me, I keep repeating that mantra in my head) and I am definitely on a new journey.  This time by myself, and it is okay.

And in true starting over fashion, I have relocated to a new state and am in the process of taking on some of the biggest projects I have ever put my mind to.  New career, new town, and soon to be, converting the van into my new tiny home!

I have always loved the idea of the tiny home, and circumstances may have pushed that idea to the forefront.  Purchased for a song it back in Pennsylvania, the white Chevy Express van got us back to California. Shortly after, it sputtered out and it seemed that it was headed for the salvage yard.

Fast forward almost a year later (which is now almost a year ago).  Ric and I made the very tough decision to split up.  We spent about 20 years together, with good times and tough times, and while one of the toughest decisions of my life, we knew it was the right decision.

Not knowing how I was going to get myself around, I looked out at the field where the white van sat and came to the conclusion that I was going to get her up and running again. I walked out with keys in hand, unsure of what state I'd find her in.  A few dead rodents later, I inserted the key into the ignition of the vehicle that sat for months on end and turned it over. It started no problem.

With the help of my dad, we figured out that it was the catalytic converter that went out.  I ordered a new one and we got to work. My dad was my hero, loosening rusted bolts and cutting out the old catalytic converter. With a new one installed and a few other minor repairs, she was up and running once more!

Catalytic Converter work...appropriate shoes...?

A few final fixes...

Dad added this on the to-do list...and subsequently marked it F'ing Done!

My mom came over and we packed up the house.  I made the next tough but important decision, I was going to start a new career and in that, start traveling more.  The 'friend-lords' were the sweetest, and supported my decision, and kept the chickens.  The sheep and rabbits found a new forever home, with many tears shed.  And the white Chevy Express van got a futon bed installed and then got packed up with all the essential items I needed.  Oh, and a name.  C.W. for Covered Wagon.

Prepping the van for the futon...

Enough to sleep on when need be!

And all packed and ready for the new journeys!

Then I hit the road.....

~ Ash

PS - A BIG thanks to all my friends and family who have been there for support through the last year's ups and downs.  I am super excited for the next part of this journey so stay tuned!

Podcast Episode 15 - Big News on the Farm!

Hey folks!  Sorry it has been so long since we have shared a podcast episode with you all!  A LOT has been happening with Fiberton Acres.  We thought what better way to let you know what is happening than to tell you in a new podcast episode!

The spoiler...we are moving!  To learn all the details, click here to listen on Soundcloud or listen on your podcast play of choice!

A few of the other things we reference in this week's podcast:

Fiberton Acres and New Products

Our Instagram (to see Ric dancing while tilling)

Our Patreon Page! (To get exclusives on our travels and more!)

Our Email List!

All the Apparatus, our intro and outro music!

Life is All About Trial and Error...And it's all about perspective.

I have to say trial and error is, for me, the best way to learn anything. When I started Kung Fu class I sucked. I fell every time I tried a high kick, I missed every take-down, and I couldn’t land a joint lock to save my life…literally. One night after class I was sitting in my car thinking about quitting to save myself the embarrassment of constant failure, when my instructor, Brian, knocked on the window and I opened the door while trying to not look depressed.

“Dude, you have great perseverance. Kung Fu is hard and the only way to know a technique is to find every way that it doesn’t work.” he said. “When you succeed the first time at a technique you only understand how you did it that time, in that situation. If you find every way that it doesn’t work, you are left with only the good.”

That night is when I changed my perspective on failure.

I no longer fail at anything. I successfully find ways that a technique does not work. When my RV wouldn’t start after parking at a gas station in Wyoming, I checked the batteries, they worked. I checked the wires leading to the ignition, they seemed funny and something looked loose, so I attached it to an open spot on the ignition and it almost instantly melted. I honestly thought about giving up…. We’d already replaced the radiator and the sending unit for the temp gauge. But then I thought about how I had eliminated a possible problem.  It wasn’t that loose wire… you know, because of the fire and all.

I called my dad and we walked through the entire ignition situation over the phone, tracing wires and even replacing and MacGyvering a few connections until we got it working. Ashley and I drove off the next morning, not having failed to leave the gas station in under 24 hours but having learned how to rewire the ignition system of a 1986 Winnie.

Every time you lose and fail remember that you learned. If you give up you don’t learn.

Brian encouraged me to take Tai Chi, hip hop dance, and even take up parkour to improve my Kung Fu, and it all helped. I also met some of my great friends because of these side projects. If I had given up that night in my car I wouldn’t have met some of the greatest people in my life. People who see not roadblocks but parkour obstacles to be vaulted over and mastered. 

I want you to remember that you become a master of life only after finding every way that your life doesn't work for you, because all that’s left is the good life.

If you are moving to becoming the you that you want to be, you are a blackbelt at life.

-Ric

New Year, New Hustle...and special 2017 manifesto download!

First...Happy New year!  We hope you had a great first couple days of the year.  Admittedly, 2016 brought a LOT of change for us at Fiberton, and we have had to work really hard to keep ourselves treading water.  But we are also looking forward to the New Year as that marker for sitting down, an figuring our priorities and coming up with a new game plan.

The last several years I have been making a "Manifesto" for the year.  Something nice to look at, that I can hang on the wall, and that reminds me of the things that we want to work toward. Some of the things are just reminders to self about being 'yourself' and others are larger concepts or plans for the business.  These are personal and business goals and aspirations for the year...aka, how we wanna hustle this year:

Here is a pic of it hanging up... (tiny home = awkward photo angles)

I made it 8x10, so I could easily print and then frame it for all to see.  I love sharing, because it creates a bit of accountability, too.

So, want to make your own? We have created a special downloadable blank manifesto for you! Maybe you have been practicing your hand lettering, and want to fill it in by hand?  Then download the PDF version here. Or you want to drop it into a doc or drawing program and make it your own.  In that case, download the png image here, and draw your own text boxes in the spaces. (We used google draw and used their fun open source fonts. Just make sure that you format the page to be a 8x10.) Either way, we hope it inspires you to make some reminders/aspirations for your new year. (Oh, and don't forget to unclick "fit to page" when you go to print!)

Thanks for being our awesome readers, and let's all get that hustle on!

Ash

PS - If you have not had a chance, or you want to hear about the crazy year I spoke of above in our own voices, please check out our podcast!  Just look up Fiberton Acres on your preferred podcast platform. like iTunes, Stitcher, etc, and subscribe, OR you can go direct by clicking here!

Introducing our new podcast!

We are super excited to present our new podcast! Fiberton Acres' podcast is a Humorous History of Horticulture and Husbandry. A fun introduction to what we do, but more than that, it looks at the history of animal rearing and husbandry, agriculture, and some of the fun and funny things that we did, and some of the adventures that we have encountered in our forays into our relatively new farm life. We are also excited to take time with others in the field, other small farmers and ranchers, to see what they do and why they do it.

This episode is looking at a broad history of sheep and the uses of the domesticated sheep.

We found most of our details from:

• http://www.sheep101.info
• http://www.pbs.org/pov/sweetgrass/sheep-facts/
• http://www.onekind.org/education/animals_a_z/sheep
• http://www.famu.edu/cesta/main/assets/File/coop_extension/small%20ruminant/goat%20pubs/Sheep%20Facts.pdf
• http://www.think-differently-about-sheep.com/Sheep%20_Facts.htm

We also want to say thank you to Charlotte Cleary for helping us with our research, and to Lefty5Strings for our intro and outro music!

Make sure to subscribe on whichever podcast player you use, and we will post each episode here! Right now you can find us on Soundcloud, iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn!

Thank you to everyone for your support! Head over to our Facebook page to leave your comments! (Or hit us up at Instagram or twitter @fibertonacres!)


- Ash and the Fiberton gang

We've moved!

I know, I know....we have not blogged in waaaay too long.  But good news!  We have moved!  Not only are we are now in our new home/location in Eastern Ohio, and we are integrating our blog with our new website!  So, if you were reading/following us here, we will soon be moving all our content over to our new blog here.  

We are also working on some exciting new posts, new content, and of course, new products!  Stay tuned!

- Ashley and the Fiberton gang